


The Lucky Ones

by PanjaMysy



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Collection of one shots, based on the theme of luck and what that looks like in various situations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27255034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PanjaMysy/pseuds/PanjaMysy
Summary: They say the ones who survive are the lucky ones. Carol's experiences with luck or the lack thereof.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	The Lucky Ones

**Author's Note:**

> Tip Your Waitress: ko-fi.com/panjamysy  
> Tumblr: solar-pxwered.tumblr.com

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tip Your Waitress: ko-fi.com/panjamysy  
> Tumblr: solar-pxwered.tumblr.com

_We're alive, that means we're the lucky ones._

It was a sentiment spoken by an elderly woman in an old beat up Ford Escort earlier that day as the line of cars moved slowly out of the city, making a break for the country side since the city was beginning to fall into chaos. They'd been crawling at a snail's pace all day and so it hadn't been hard to overhear conversations around them as their old Cherokee came to a stop.

But Carol didn't feel lucky at all as she stood on that ridge now, her hand over her mouth as she watched in silent horror while Atlanta burned in the distance. The glow of distant fire and the acrid burn in her nostrils as remnants of napalm rolled in on the heavy, deadly silent breeze. 

Her home. Her life. Everything she owned that hadn't been quickly thrown in the Cherokee while Ed yelled at her to hurry up and get in the damn car. Gone, just like that. Atlanta was burning. The once bustling and thriving city thrust onto it's knees in a matter of days by...by what? What was this anyway? A disease, was the rumor. Ed suspected biological warfare from the Middle East.

Whatever the case may be...there was nothing lucky about surviving to see this. The lucky ones had died years ago before this insanity began.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It felt like luck when those pressurized doors opened at the CDC, steam pouring out from the well lit corridor, light so bright and hopeful that it pierced the darkness and blinded all of them for a moment before they scrambled inside, clambering for safety within the walls of the promised land. 

Or so they had thought.

A hot shower, a soft bed, real pajamas, a healthy dose of booze and actual food that wasn't scrounged out of dented cans. Safety. Comfort. Hope.

False hope, as it turns out.

The screen shows the ugly, harsh truth in shades of blue and green as they watch the test subject, TS-19, go through the process of death, reanimation and death again. Jenner reveals that their search for a cure yielded no results. To top it off, the building is going into lockdown and the entire group panics. 

All Carol can think to do is cling to her daughter, begging the scientist to give them another chance out there. For Sophia's sake.

And when those doors open and Daryl yells for them to go, she thinks maybe, _just maybe_ , they've been lucky to escape with their lives.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had never felt less lucky than when Rick came back to the highway without her daughter. He makes some excuse about telling her to follow the sun and the world crashes around her. Lucky...she was no such thing. 

Hours pass, night falls, and she feels the helplessness wash over her as she holds onto her pillow and tries to keep her sobbing under control so as not to wake the others. But Daryl sits up, sighs, and then stands to gather his crossbow and a flashlight and announces he's going to look for Sophia in spite of the heavy darkness of night. She lifts her head at those words and meet his sidelong gaze, he nods and she wonders if he's always had that softness to his eyes.

Andrea joins in the hunt and Carol feels that she's lucky...lucky to have people around her who care enough to try.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they bring Daryl into the house she feels her heart sink. He's unconscious, covered in blood and dirt and he's soaking wet. Rick and Shane drag him up the stairs with Hershel close behind and Patricia begins to flutter around the closet to gather medical supplies and Carol feels her chest tighten even more. Everyone looks fearful and she feels it too...because she realizes suddenly that she cares about what happens to him. 

And she cares more than she thought possible.

When Hershel comes down, wiping his blood soaked hands off with a towel, he announces that Daryl is going to be fine as long as he doesn't get an infection. Carol feels a heavy weight drop from her chest and she fights the urge to run up there and make a fuss over him...but she keeps it all under wraps, not showing outwardly how grateful she is that he's alive.

She manages to stay away from him until that evening when she takes dinner up for him. She sees the crisscrosses of scars across his back for only a few seconds before he pulls the sheets up to cover them and she knows then why finding her daughter matters so much...and why he resonates with her. She doesn't mention them, instead she praises his efforts and tells him that he matters and that he's every bit the man that their leaders are.

If he believes her, he says nothing, but Carol feels lucky. Lucky that Daryl Dixon is alive and that she has had the chance to show him even a tiny piece of the kindness he's shown her.


End file.
